Fan Yuanyuan, Zhang Xiqin, Tong Yuxin, Chen Suning, Liang Jingjing
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Liaoning Key Laboratory of Research and Application of Animal Models for Environmental and Metabolic Diseases, Medical Research Center, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2022 Sep 2;13:990475. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.990475. eCollection 2022.
Gastrointestinal cancer (GIC) poses a serious threat to human health globally. Curcumin (CUR), a hydrophobic polyphenol extracted from the rhizome of , has shown reliable anticancer function and low toxicity, thereby offering broad research prospects. Numerous studies have demonstrated the pharmacological mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of CUR against GIC, including the induction of apoptosis and autophagy, arrest of the cell cycle, inhibition of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) processes, inhibition of cell invasion and migration, regulation of multiple signaling pathways, sensitization to chemotherapy and reversal of resistance to such treatments, and regulation of the tumor survival environment. It has been confirmed that CUR exerts its antitumor effects on GIC through these mechanisms and . Moreover, treatment with CUR is safe and tolerable. Newly discovered types of regulated cell death (RCD), such as pyroptosis, necroptosis, and ferroptosis, may provide a new direction for research on the efficacy of CUR against GIC. In this review, we discuss the recently found pharmacological mechanisms underlying the effects of CUR against GIC (gastric and colorectal cancers). The objective is to provide a reference for further research on treatments against GIC.
胃肠道癌（GIC）在全球范围内对人类健康构成严重威胁。姜黄素（CUR）是从姜黄根茎中提取的一种疏水性多酚，已显示出可靠的抗癌功能且毒性低，因此具有广阔的研究前景。大量研究已经证明了CUR对GIC有效性的药理机制，包括诱导细胞凋亡和自噬、使细胞周期停滞、抑制上皮-间质转化（EMT）过程、抑制细胞侵袭和迁移、调节多种信号通路、使肿瘤对化疗敏感并逆转对这些治疗的耐药性，以及调节肿瘤生存环境。已经证实CUR通过这些机制对GIC发挥抗肿瘤作用。此外，CUR治疗是安全且可耐受的。新发现的几种程序性细胞死亡（RCD）类型，如焦亡、坏死性凋亡和铁死亡，可能为CUR对GIC疗效的研究提供新方向。在本综述中，我们讨论了CUR对GIC（胃癌和结直肠癌）作用的最新发现的药理机制。目的是为进一步研究GIC的治疗提供参考。
